Although the governing body of golf today in the U.S. is the United States Golf Association (USGA), the first “13 Rules of Golf” were written in 1774. Because of the level of difficulty required to master the game, or to at least be able to play with some level of proficiency, golf equipment was quickly developed to improve a golfer's score, and in many cases, this playing equipment would substitute for the skill of the golfer. Rules were quickly added to control the use of equipment, and maintain the fairness of the game, so that the golfer's main advantage would be attributable to his/her degree of skill. Today, restrictions on equipment are found in the USGA rules, particularly rule 2, and appendix II, regarding the design of golf clubs.
With many limitations being placed on the type of equipment a golfer may utilize to better his or her score during a round of play, the efforts and innovation for achieving such improvements have been directed towards developing the golfer's technique. While good golfing technique comprises many different aspects, including correct ball positioning, proper club grip, a good stance, and several other facets that come into play before the golfer is actually ready to attempt to strike the ball, chief among the fundamentals requiring proper development is the mechanics of the golfer's swing.
A proper golf swing comprises a double pendulum swing, with the first pendulum corresponding to the golfer's shoulders and arms, and the second pendulum corresponding to the golfer's wrist, hands, and the golf club. Many inventions have been produced, which are directed to training the golfer to complete a proper double pendulum swing. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,319,963 to Cockburn for “Golf Swing Guiding Device Including Correct Swing Indicator.” The Cockburn device comprises a multi-arm, multi-pivoting machine that is designed to constrain the golfer's swing of the club “through the correct arc of movement during the upswing and down-swing.” Although the machine appears well adapted to such training, the machine itself is quite bulky, and furthermore requires a pillar, support post, or a wall onto which the machine may be attached. U.S. Pat. No. 2,737,432 to Jenks, U.S. Pat. No. 3,415,523 to Boldt, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,299 to Romano offer similar devices, with similar drawbacks.
However, one of the predominant swing problems that golfer's frequently experience is having a downswing being out-of-plane, and having incorrect club rotation. Devices offering similar aids to train the golfer's swing, while simultaneously affording greater mobility in the locations where training may occur, are found in several related patents.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,994,633 to Czaja discloses a chest harness from which extends an inelastic flexible strap that connects to the golfer's golf club to help replicate the double pendulum swing, with the flexible strap serving to help the golfer maintain the proper swing radius. But the device does not serve to counter the out-of-plane swing and club rotation problems.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,365 to Picard for a “Golf Swing Training Harness” discloses an attachment means to be secured to the golfer's waist, one elbow on one side of the golfer, and one knee and one wrist on the golfer's opposite side. The elbow attachment means is connected by an elastic extensor to a respective side of the waist attachment, while the wrist attachment means on the opposite side of the golfer is connected by an elastic extensor to a respective side of the waist attachment means, and is also connected by another elastic extensor to the knee attachment means. The elbow extensor holds the elbow in close proximity to the torso, the wrist extensor “encourages the stiff left arm of the golfer to remain ‘tight’ at the top of the backswing, rather than being too far back or too far forward,” while the leg-wrist extensor encourages proper inward and rearward movement of the golfer's knee. The Picard device does also serve to develop proper muscle memory to counter the out-of-plane swing problem, however, in addition to working multiple other swing-deficiency areas which may not be problematic for a particular golfer, make much of the device overly restrictive and counter-productive, the elastic extensor disclosed lacks the sophistication necessary for achieving proper swing mechanics throughout all portions of the golfer's swing—back-swing and down-swing. The extensors are only and very simply described as being “suitable flexible elastic materials . . . ”
A golfer's training device that is somewhat more adept at countering the problem is shown by U.S. Pat. No. 3,804,420 to Boyd. The Boyd training device consists of a cord being wound around a helical groove in a spring-loaded reel and having one end secured thereto, with the assembly being stored in a housing. The housing is secured to a waist band, while the free end of the cord that protrudes from the housing is secured to a glove that is worn on the hand of the golfer's leading arm. As the golfer moves his arms in the back-swing, he/she is “made aware of an increasing tension on his left or leading hand.” However, a constantly increasing pressure is not consistent with the optimum mechanics necessary to produce good muscle memory for a proper in-plane downswing. Moreover, with the Boyd training device, the golfer must inconveniently move his elbow at the peak of the upswing to contact a release plate, in order to release the reel to have the spring urge rotation of the reel, and relieve tension on the cord. The deficiencies of each of the prior art devices, with respect to training muscle memory for a proper in-plane down-swing with correct club rotation, is eliminated in the simple device disclosed in the present invention.